3 Questions for Yale Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives Jenny Frederick

It’s been a couple of years since I last checked in with Jenny Frederick, Yale’s associate provost for academic initiatives. Check out my past interviews with Jenny here and here. I asked Jenny to answer my questions about her work at Yale.

Q: Part of your portfolio at Yale is leadership in developing Yale’s AI strategy. In what ways is Yale’s approach to AI differentiated and aligned with the university’s strengths? I’m looking for how you see Yale’s approach to AI as unique, or at least specifically suited to the Yale purpose, as well as what all of us can learn from how Yale is approaching the AI era.

A: Yale’s AI strategy is rooted in a foundational conviction that leading research universities have a critical role to play in this moment. We are conducting AI-powered research that saves lives, protects our planet, maps the universe, brings historical insight to bear on contemporary challenges and decodes the workings of the human brain. Everything we do flows from our mission to improve the world. The Yale Task Force on AI’s report captures this orientation directly by stating that Yale aims to lead in “advancing the understanding of the ethical and societal impact of AI” as well as in “developing new approaches to promote equity in or through AI technologies.” That dual commitment to technical ambition and humanistic accountability is central to what makes Yale’s approach distinctive.

That distinctiveness aligns with Yale’s deep intellectual traditions in the humanities and the arts. Our AI strategy does not treat these disciplines as adjacent to the “real” work of AI—it treats them as essential. We are simultaneously supporting scholarship that explores what AI means for society and research that is developing cutting-edge robots to support children with developmental differences and advanced processes for identifying promising medical treatments. If we pursue this integration well, AI will enhance what is distinctly Yale and the next generation of leaders will be prepared to bring uniquely human judgment and wisdom to the challenges ahead.

A third pillar of our approach involves making the most of our residential identity. As a residential campus, Yale has the capacity and intentionality to convene people in ways that generate the unexpected. I recently brought together faculty recipients of interdisciplinary AI seed grants for an in-person session where each team presented highlights of their research. This event exemplified what I observe consistently when humans gather in the same room: Something generative happens that no other modality quite replicates. At least two new collaborations emerged from ideas sparked by exposure to entirely different projects. Yale’s residential commitment is not incidental to our AI strategy, it is a feature we intentionally capitalize on.

To sum up, Yale’s distinctive advantage lies at the intersection of humanistic rigor, technical ambition and a residential community built for the kind of human connection that no AI can replicate.

I think all institutions, including Yale, are still figuring out how to navigate this terrain. What I believe we have done well is provide researchers and educators with clear signals from institutional leadership and the infrastructure needed to experiment ambitiously. I remain genuinely and humbly eager to learn from peers who are tackling shared challenges in creative ways. I’m convinced that the best path forward isn’t about any single institution solving this alone, but through a community of practice in which universities share what they are learning, hold each other accountable to our shared values and collectively raise the quality of our responses to this defining moment in higher education.

Q: How has Yale’s digital teaching and learning organizational structure and campuswide educational infrastructure evolved since the pandemic? Where is Yale going in terms of institutional investments in online learning, AI and technology-enhanced residential instruction?

A: When the Poorvu Center was established in 2014, its structure deliberately integrated educational developers, technologists, media professionals and writing program staff under one roof. The pandemic confirmed the value of that model. When our campus needed coordinated, comprehensive support quickly, we were positioned to deliver it. That integrated expertise continues to benefit both residential and online learners in practical ways. For example, our assessment team and digital education team co-design learning milestones for online cohorts. Graduate Writing Lab staff lead academic writing workshops for online certificate students. The organizational architecture makes this kind of cross-pollination routine rather than remarkable.

Yale’s online educational strategy is faculty-led and mission-driven. Our catalog features faculty with distinctive expertise addressing real gaps, from The Making of Modern Ukraine to Overcoming Dyslexia to Secrets to College Success, which grew out of the academic strategies support we provide residential students. One of the more intentional features of our approach is the bridge we build between online and on-campus communities. Students at the School of the Environment, for example, provide instructional support in our Financing and Deploying Clean Energy program, whose learners are often already practitioners in the field. Everyone benefits, since online learners gain access to a living campus community and residential students deepen content mastery and expand their networks.

Because some online programs generate revenue, we can fund others that serve important populations, such as the Divinity School’s Youth Ministry Leadership program. That cross-subsidy model gives us flexibility to pursue programs that advance our mission and enable broadly affordable participation.

On the infrastructure side, we recently invested in a shared learner information system that allows schools to manage applications, enrollments, credentialing and contact data in a single environment. This solution replaced a patchwork of ad hoc solutions that created administrative burden and unreliable data. We have also developed a strategic framework, built in collaboration with deans, faculty committees and staff, that guides our growing portfolio of noncredit, nondegree offerings and includes an advisory panel to help new programs meet Yale’s standards while staying connected to a coherent institutional vision.

Q: Your Ph.D. is in chemistry. As associate provost for academic initiatives, you lead a wide portfolio of projects and initiatives that are, I imagine, outside of what you learned to do in graduate school. How do you approach leadership in areas that go beyond your academic training? What advice do you have for traditionally trained academics (such as myself) looking to move into university leadership roles?

A: Your readers will recognize that many academic administrators are leading in areas that go well beyond their disciplinary training, so I’m not alone. In my work, I constantly appreciate that my doctoral training equipped me with durable skills that translate into other domains. I think critically and ask good questions, troubleshoot when something goes wrong, work collaboratively, and apply creative ideas to solve problems. Years of doing experiments at the lab bench taught me to manage multiple projects at different stages and to be patient with uncertainty. A great thing about taking on more leadership roles is the opportunity to learn more about how an institution works. I might not be purifying proteins and measuring binding kinetics, but I bring a scientific mindset of curiosity about the unknown, experimentation and iteration to my work.

My advice to others comes from lessons I took from my own mentors. I recommend approaching leadership with humility and respect. Ask a million questions and don’t be afraid to show that you don’t know the answers. If you are taking on something new, figure out who the experts are and get to know them. As you learn, avoid latching on to the first perspective you come across, even if it seems reasonable or correct. Try to stay in information-gathering mode, which gives you more ingredients to develop your own perspective. In my view, the best leaders do a great deal of listening, asking questions and reserving judgment, but then act with clarity and decisiveness. Being true to your values and transparent about your decisions helps build trust, which promotes a healthy culture for everyone.

To read the original article, visit Inside Higher Ed here.